No bond was set on Tuesday for McKinney Wright Jr. and Quandarius Richardson, the two adult suspects charged in last week's shooting death of Phil Trenary, CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

General Sessions Judge Bill Anderson did assign attorneys for the two young men,

Racanisha Wright appeared in Juvenile Court on Monday, where Special Judge Garland Erguden found probable cause to hold the 11th-grader in juvenile detention until her Oct. 11 transfer hearing. A judge will decide if she stays in Juvenile Court or be tried as an adult in Criminal Court.

Families in disbelief

However, family for both men were there on Monday and could not believe their loved ones were involved in Trenary's death.

McKinney Wright is developmentally delayed, his family said. He's 22, but has the mind of a 14-year-old, according to Freddie Ball, the aunt who raised him.

McKinney Wright graduated from Mitchell High School and was in special education classes. He receives a disability check and is unable to work, Ball said.

"Right now I'm just sitting in disbelief that I would raise a child to take a human life. I'm just in disbelief. I can't believe it," she said Monday.

Her nephew also has a drug charge pending, and Ball believes in both cases he was influenced by people around him.

Celesteine Wrignt, McKinney Wright's mother said Richardson is her niece's friend and that she had been trying to get them to stay away from him.

Her son, she said has "a child's mind."

Also on Monday, Richard's aunt, Kesha Patterson, made similar statements about her nephew.

“He’s still a child that’s just beginning life. Growing up, we all sometimes get involved with the wrong people, but hey, you don’t think you are going to get into crime when you’re just hanging out with your friends," Patterson said. "We’re looking at — maybe our nephew just got involved with the wrong people, maybe somebody influenced him. I’m not going to say if these charges are real, we don’t know that my nephew did this."

Surveillance video shows Phil Trenary walking on South Front Street as well as the white truck believed to have been used in his shooting.
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The shooting

On Sept. 27, Trenary was walking on the 500 block of South Front Street after the chamber's "Move it Memphis' fun when a shooter exited the passenger side of a white pickup and shot him, according to police reports.

"Witnesses on the scene advised they saw an individual exit the passenger side of a white truck and approach Philip Trenary from behind and shoot him," the affidavit of complaint said.

He was taken to Regional One Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:58 p.m.

A surveillance video has been recently released that shows a white truck heading south on Front, with Trenary appearing shortly afterward on foot.

According to the affidavit of complaint, Richardson was developed as a suspect and on Sept. 28 offices with the Violent Crimes Unit saw what was a stolen white Ford F-150 pickup traveling east on Whitney Avenue in Frayser. Attempts to stop the vehicle failed and a high-speed police chase began.

The truck led officers onto the interstate and weaved in and out of traffic before exiting in South Memphis.

The pickup crashed into vehicles on McLemore Avenue and Mississippi Boulevard, injuring other drivers, the complaint said.

When apprehended, Richardson waived his Miranda Rights, identified his co-defendants and told investigators they had been driving around Downtown looking for someone to rob.

After McKinney Wright and his cousin were taken into custody, they also waived their Miranda Rights and gave similar statements to police, the report said.

Trenary began his leadership at the Chamber in 2014 after decades in the airline industry. Three years earlier, Trenary had stepped down as president and CEO of Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

Trenary's funeral is set for Thursday. Visitation will start at noon with a service at 2 p.m. in the Seabrook Hall at Christ United Methodist Church, 4488 Poplar Avenue.

Trenary family releases statement

The Trenary family released the followingstatement Monday afternoon:

"Thursday night, our beloved Phil Trenary was tragically taken from us. Our hearts are heavy with sorrow and grief as we try to make sense of what happened. Phil loved and was deeply committed to our family and the City of Memphis. We miss him and are heartened that Phil’s legacy will live on through his extraordinary civic, community and business contributions to the transformation of Memphis and the state of Tennessee. We want his remarkable vision for the growth and development of a thriving Memphis to continue to live on. The outpouring of love and support from the community has helped sustain us through this process. At this time, we ask for respect for our privacy as we begin to cope with the immeasurable loss we have all suffered."